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My wife loves sheep, she finds them peaceful. I like them too, my daughter showed them in 4H. Although my perspective did change somewhat when my ram caught me offguard and knocked me over with a good headbutt...

One thing is certain - a flock of sheep will educate you about biology and procreation. One other piece of advice combining employment advice and learning a trade - you can't learn sheep shearing from a book. And if you try, you'll be known in the county for the sheep who looked like a poodle.

I would humbly like to add a 21st item to your list that I learned at a late age.

It's the people, NOT the job.

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I love every part of this comment.

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Thanks Bob. As they say, experience is what you get when you don't get what you expected.

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"Maybe Ivy League graduates making photocopies for congressmen shouldn’t look down on plumbers who own beach homes." Love it -- great line!

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That seems to be the one that everyone is latching onto. :)

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May 12, 2023Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

“If people weren’t people ... they’d be sheep”. Hank Pierce

I live with a fiber artist too

I’ve always worked for myself

Even when working for someone else

Working “with” someone is not the same as working “for someone

The best vocations are collaborative

Solitary passions are sometimes isolating

Never be afraid to

Pitch a bad job in the trash

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Love all of those.

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May 13, 2023Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

As someone who has a horse, we often talk at the barn about "kids these days" and how they can't seem to do things for themselves or think through what will happen. The ones who stick around and continue to ride learn way more than how to deal with horses. It makes sense dealing with sheep can do the same. Here is a great article https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/let-your-daughters-grow-up-to-be-horse-girls/ .

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Laura, I absolutely LOVE this article. Absolutely beautiful from start to finish. I will find more opportunities to share it.

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I shared your article with an equestrian friend. She knew the article well and had already been sharing it with others. She then shared this one with me: https://eventingnation.com/an-open-letter-to-my-daughters-teacher/

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That is a great list. Speaking of sheep, and young people raising them, I'm hoping next month to get back to the Solano County Fair (SF Bay Area). It ran 11 days when I was a young person, and I loved, loved, loved the farm animals being raised by other young people. i know that with milking machines it may be a dying art, but I did get coached on how to do it there. The horse racing is gone now, so it's only three days ... Hope I don't have a Thomas Wolfe moment.

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Enjoy yourself. Funny thing about Wolfe going home again. Initially, folks in Asheville hated him for using their thinly-veiled personae in his novels. After some years, the only people who were pissed were those whose WEREN’T in his books. (Some people even listed their characters’ names on their tombstones.)

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